LOT Heritage Rare Coin Galleries  /  2007 Jan (FUN) Heritage Signature Coin #422  / 

3669

1907 $10 Wire Rim MS65 PCGS. This is a Gem quality rep

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:47,500.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 2.00 USD
1907 $10 Wire Rim MS65 PCGS. This is a Gem quality rep
<B>1907 $10 Wire Rim MS65 PCGS.</B></I> This is a Gem quality representative of the famous Indian Head design created for the ten dollar gold piece by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The model for the head of Liberty on this piece is not known to the present generation, but it probably derived from several sources. Homer Saint-Gaudens, the designer's son, commented that "the profile head was modeled from a woman supposed to have negro blood in her veins. Who, other than an Indian, may be a 'pure American' is undetermined. In reality here, as in all examples of my father's ideals sculpture, little or no resemblance can be traced to any model; since he was always quick to reject the least taint of what he called 'personality' in such instances."<BR> Cornelius Vermeule discussed this topic in <I>Numismatic Art in America:</B></I> "The tale about a woman of negro blood serving as the ultimate source for the head of Liberty on the ten-dollar coin may be correct in that artists had constant recourse to living models, but there is a clear line of classical progression from the so-called 'Beautiful Head' made at Pergamon about 165 B.C. to the Nike of the Sherman Monument and thence to the coins. The sculptures at Pergamon had been excavated in the previous generation, and they were artistic sensations of the decades when Saint-Gaudens was at the height of his fame and creativity."<BR> Only 16 finer examples of this issue have been certified by PCGS (12/06). It is a sharply struck Gem with finely granular surfaces that were imparted at the time it was minted. The reverse has considerable die polish in the fields that impart a satiny appearance. Both sides are fully brilliant with a hint of green over bright yellow surfaces.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Coin/Currency (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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